Analysis: Reasons for optimism despite Ospreys' Toulouse defeat

Given the trying circumstances under which the Ospreys travelled to Toulouse, it would scarcely have been a surprise had they ended up being as comprehensively stuffed as one of the city’s famous sausages.

Given the trying circumstances under which the Ospreys travelled to Toulouse, it would scarcely have been a surprise had they ended up being as comprehensively stuffed as one of the city’s famous sausages.

But those who predicted Steve Tandy’s injury-ravaged squad would be chewed up and spat out by the European giants at their Stade Ernest Wallon fortress were, it seems, underestimating the resilience of the Liberty Stadium outfit.

By the time Tandy and his boys walked through the door of their hotel at just after 9pm local time on Friday night, they had all the ready-made excuses they needed to capitulate against the French rugby aristocrats the next day.

Not only had their pack been decimated by injury – Welsh internationals Richard Hibbard, Adam Jones, Aaron Jarvis, Alun Wyn Jones and Ian Evans were all absent – but a seven-hour delay at Bristol Airport had severely disrupted their preparation.

Plans to run through their moves at the Toulouse stadium on Friday evening had to be shelved, the team had only been able to have one-and-a-half training sessions all week, and they had tighthead prop Campbell Johnstone about to face one of the best club sides in the world having spent most of this season playing his rugby in Spain of all places.

Even the respected French sports paper L’Equipe used the word ‘debacle’ in its Saturday morning edition to describe the state in which the Ospreys entered the match.

After the final whistle in the afternoon though, assistant coach Jonathan Humphreys revealed the players had huddled in Bristol as they waited for their eventual take-off and vowed that they would not use their Easyjet travails as a cop-out.

And they backed those words up in admirable style when it came to the crunch.

Yes, the Ospreys went down by what was ultimately a pretty emphatic margin, yes they shipped five tries in the process. But they also scored two of their own and, to a man, stood up to be counted in the face of the prodigious weight and power that Toulouse threw at them.

Make no mistake, there was little on offer from the home side that nodded to typical Gallic flair.

Instead, brute force via a grunting scrum, a juggernaut rolling maul, relentless grinding phase play and thudding gain-line ferocity was the order of the day from the hosts.

The difference in sheer size and strength was plain to see on numerous occasions, but still white Ospreys jerseys flung themselves into the physical battle with vigour.

It was that type of gutsy commitment that prevented the cricket score being talked about beforehand from materialising, especially in a second half that was almost entirely one-way traffic.

What a pity that the Ospreys were so hamstrung by the knock-on effects of a demanding, elongated autumn international series. This should have been one of the ties of the Heineken Cup qualifying stages and a game they very much had a shout of winning.

Instead it was reduced to a David and Goliath affair, with much of the expectancy and intrigue surrounding it subsequently removed.

Yet until Welsh rugby settles into a system that allows both the national team and the regions to complement one another, fixtures like this are going to have the lifeblood sucked out of them.

The Ospreys bemoaned the crazy seasonal structure early last week through a statement by boss Andrew Hore, but credit to them for knuckling down come kick-off.

Humphreys mused in the aftermath on Saturday that a famous win could have been on the cards when his team trailed only 12-7 at half-time.

That was stretching things because it was clear Toulouse would eventually make their extra artillery count, but there was no question that the Ospreys did end the first period with a 10-minute spell of dominance.

It yielded a try for Samoan scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i and almost another one for centre Ashley Beck, who was bundled into touch just a yard or two short of the line.

At that stage Toulouse temporarily lost their way having cruised into a 12-0 lead with tries from centre Florian Fritz and captain and openside flanker Yannick Nyanga, which came from a botched lineout and a missed tackle by Ian Gough respectively.

But the hosts always seemed able to up the intensity when they really needed to.

The Ospreys hung on heroically to within one score until the 56th minute when, after a series of surging scrums Toulouse wing Vincent Clerc finished off a blindside raid with an adroit touchdown next to the corner flag.

Prop Census Johnson followed him over soon after and you hoped there would be no late opening of the floodgates that would undo all the graft the Ospreys had expended up to then.

Thankfully there wasn’t, and even though impressive full-back Yoann Huget claimed a fifth try it was somehow fitting that the visitors had the last word. That was in the form of a try from replacement prop Ryan Bevington in the dying stages, which was even applauded by the Toulouse faithful who appeared to appreciate the doggedness of their opponents.

The score didn’t alter the fact that the Ospreys would return home empty-handed and all but out of contention to qualify for the knockout stage, but still there were a couple of high fives among their players.

And why not? Taking pride in defeat is something that always requires caution.

But while the Ospreys have wrongly attempted to put positive spin on past European failures they had every right to a degree of satisfaction.

Sure they lost, but there were long-term gains made, not least in the fact that six youngsters made their debuts in Europe’s elite competition.

WalesOnline is part of Media Wales, publisher of the Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and the seven Celtic weekly titles, offering you unique access to our audience across Wales online and in print.